1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a windshield washer system that injects washer fluid onto a front windshield of a vehicle such as an automobile and particularly relates to a windshield washer system that effectively cleans an area in front of an imaging device located on an interior side of a front windshield.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle such as an automobile is provided with a windshield washer system that injects washer fluid (cleaning fluid) onto a front windshield.
As a related art concerning such a windshield washer system, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H10-194091, a nozzle located at a single position that injects washer fluid onto three predetermined areas on a front windshield is disclosed.
In JP-A No. 2008-137548, a windshield washer system is disclosed in which injection force is controlled on the basis of recognition results obtained by an object recognition apparatus that can recognize any object around a vehicle in order to prevent splash of washer fluid toward the object.
Recently, the adoption of such an outside recognition apparatus has also become widespread. The outside recognition apparatus has an imaging device such as a stereo camera assembly that is located adjacent to the inner surface of the front windshield so as to recognize external conditions in front of the vehicle.
As a related art concerning such an outside recognition apparatus, for example, in JP-A No. H9-66803, disclosed is an outside recognition apparatus having a stereo camera assembly that monitors rainwater splashed by a preceding vehicle while moving in rainy weather and controls the wiping speed of a wiper in response to the condition of the splash.
An imaging device for the outside recognition apparatus is generally arranged in an area adjacent to a central top portion of the front windshield.
In the case where dirt adheres to such an area, a common windshield washer system that diffuses the washer fluid over an entire surface of the windshield cannot supply a sufficient amount of the washer fluid over the area in front of the imaging device and problems may arise when using the outside recognition apparatus.